Of Blood And Fire
by Madame Nightshade
Summary: Princess Zetaphyr, the daughter of the Hero of Brightwall, must seek out her father's allies to help her and her brother take back the kingdom of Albion from invaders from the neighboring country of Gydeis.


They were running through the streets of the Old Quarter of Bowerstone, their boots clunking against the cobblestone. They dashed amongst frightened children and frantic adults, neither of the two daring to glance back for sight of pursuers. The figures had been running from the carnage no doubt still happening at Bowerstone Castle.

Neither Princess Zetaphyr nor Prince Walter dared to think that their morning would be interrupted by the sudden loud thumping outside, screaming staff, and gunfire, shortly followed by the nauseating scent of burning flesh. Neither sibling thought that their morning would begin with a sudden attack on their home by an unknown army, an attack which rendered the deaths of their sister, Queen Prudence, and their mother, Elise. Upon seeing the mutilated bodies of their loved ones and taking in the massacre happening around them, the prince and princess instinctively ran out of the castle and did not look back.

"Don't stop! Don't slow down! We have to keep moving, Walter!" Zetaphyr cried back to her brother while running towards the Albion flags posted by the gateway leading out of the Old Quarter. Walter nodded, keeping pace with his older sister as they raced through the gates.

"How much longer are we going to run, Zeta?" The boy asked. "We have to stop eventually."

"I don't know," she replied. "Perhaps, we'll run to the outskirts of Millfields. Set up camp there for the night. At least we should be out of the utmost danger there, I hope," the girl sighed. Walter only nodded and followed his sister through the field, thinking:

"_What would father have done? How would the famous Hero of Brightwall have dealt with the situation?"_

* * *

Zetaphyr sat on a log, poking at the fire with a stick, and damn was she hungry. For Walter's sake, he bloody well better be back with game soon. She sighed and threw the stick down.

The entire day had been a bloody mess. Albion no longer had its queen, and the Castle was probably damn near destroyed by now. The peace that her father had brought to this land was shattered in all but a day. If only he was here. He wouldn't have run away like a coward, not in the way she and Walter had. He would have fought them off with his guard. He was a Hero, _the_ Hero. And nothing could stop a Hero.

The rattling of the bushes distracted Zetaphyr from her thoughts. She reached into her boot and gripped the dagger she stashed there from earlier. Whatever it was in the woods was coming closer to the little campsite. She moved silently into position, ready to kill the beast lurking about, or worse, the mercenary. The noise grew louder as the person or thing grew closer. With a quick movement of her right arm, Zetaphyr swung at the thing from the forest, quickly halting and recoiling the action when she noticed a pair of familiar blue eyes, wide with surprise and perhaps fear.

"Oh, Walter!" She gasped, dropping the dagger to the ground. "Are you okay?"

"I nearly had my bloody throat slashed open by my own sister, but aside from that, I'm fine." The boy retorted as he pushed his way past Zetaphyr to the fire. He knelt next the flames and propped a dead, skinned hare into position to be cooked.

"I really am sorry. I'm just on edge after the day we've had. Everything's such a mess, Walter," she sighed, picking up the dagger and carefully reinserting it back into her boot.

"It's fine. Really." He poked at the burning logs without a glance at his sibling. "I do wonder, though, where are we to go in the morning? We can't live out here forever."

"This I know," Zetaphyr nodded. "I think we should make our way to Brightwall. Ben and his family are there. We should stay with them until we can figure out the next step."

"Then, it's settled, I hope." He said to himself, turning the stick impaled through the hare.

After the meal had been cooked and eaten, more wood was added to the fire and more stones were placed around the blaze to contain it. With food in their bellies, Walter sat looking up at the stars while Zetaphyr lie on the ground, trying to sleep.

"Do you think Ben will really allow us to say?" Walter question, glancing over at his sister.

"I'm sure of it. He and father went through a lot. Remember the stories of the rebellion father told us when we were younger? How he and his allies reclaimed the throne from our uncle? I just know Ben will allow us to stay," she said with a slight yawn. "And I don't know about you, but _I'm_ going to sleep. Tomorrow's going to be a long day." And with those words, the princess closed her eyes and allowed slumber to take her. Walter made a slight snorting sound before doing the same.

* * *

The noon sunlight shining onto her face was enough to awaken Zetaphyr from her sleep. She yawned and rubbed her eyes before looking over to see Walter putting out the remains of last night's fire.

"Aw, and I was hoping to have another meal before setting off," the princess groaned. The expression of annoyance on his face was Walter's only response. "Oh, calm down. I was only joking," she said, standing to her feet and stretching. "Only trying to brighten the mood, if _that's_ even possible."

"I know, but it's not going to help," the prince sighed and she dropped the subject.

Zetaphyr instead began surveying their surroundings. She didn't spot or sense any notable threats nearby, and she wasn't particularly worried about reaching Brightwall. She knew the way like the back of her hand. Exactly how many times was she taken to the Academy on her father's less dangerous errands? She couldn't remember the exact number, but she knew it had to have been at least a dozen occasions. Even if she didn't quite remember the _exact_ route, Walter knew, and _even then_, there _were_ signs along the roads.

"We go straight, back to the main pathway, and then east to Brightwall," she announced, pointing out her directions. Walter nodded, deciding not to question the sudden shift of Zetaphyr's focus, and took something out of his boot and tossed it to her. It was a pistol. It wasn't of a particularly nice quality, but it would serve its purpose, if needed. Zetaphyr eyed her brother questioningly.

"Okay, okay. So I ran into a bandit when I was looking for food. He attempted to rush me but I dodged his blade and was able to snap his neck," he bragged and then remembered the metal thing in his boot. "Oh, and speaking of blades, I think you'd like this as well." Walter reached into the side-strap of his boot and removed a dagger and held it out, hilt-first, to his sister. "I know how you like daggers and all."

She took it and examined it. Like the pistol, it wasn't of superb quality, but the pattern of interwoven circles on the hilt intrigued her. However, she remembered the dagger she found yesterday and how it was nestled in its little compartment in her right boot.

"Actually, I think you should keep it. You're fast in combat, but you should have something, _anything_, on you regardless." She said, handing back the dagger. "Now, I believe we need to be on our way if we want to make it to Brightwall at a decent hour." With that being said, Zetaphyr turned from her brother and started walking back to the main path. Walter could only sigh and put away the dagger before following the princess.

* * *

The two had been walking for a couple of hours. Zetaphyr knew they were close to Brightwall and was happy for it. These woods were quiet. A little _too_ quiet. She could feel the tiny hairs on the back of her neck standing up. She glanced over at Walter, who looked as on edge as she felt.

"We need to keep moving, but we also need to be ready for anything." She whispered to her, leaning down to grab the dagger from her boot. Walter followed suit, grabbing the dagger and stashing it between his belt and her trousers.

The two continued down the path with caution, eyeing their surroundings with suspicion. Although they were ready to attack any oncoming threat, nothing ever happened.

"Zeta, perhaps we're overreacting and nothing's out there," suggested Walter, looking over at his sister.

"Or…"

"Or may you should listen to the woman!" Cried out a gruff voice, interrupting Zetaphyr. The siblings watched as four mercenaries jumped down from the trees.

"Oi, look at dis one boys. Ain't she a looker! Just look at that face and them eyes. The things I wanna do to 'er," one of the men chuckled, staring at Zetaphyr with a wolfish grin. "And will!" He howled.

"Over my dead body!" She spat as she lunged herself at the unsuspecting man, stabbing him in the jugular with her dagger. Seeing this, Walter grabbed his dagger and threw it at the mercenary standing in the back of the group, the blade lodging itself right between his eyes.

"Tommy! Bart! You're going to pay…" A bullet to the heart interrupted the man, a bullet which came from Zetaphyr's pistol.

Meanwhile, Walter had engaged in a fist-fight with the last mercenary, who was obviously younger than the other men. The two traded blows back and forth, but it was Zetaphyr who ended the fight by smacking the young mercenary in the back of the head with her pistol. He fell to the ground in an unconscious heap.

"Remember the good old days when we were children and the mercenaries actually carried swords and rifles? What in the bloody hell happened?" She asked while beginning to search one of the fallen men.

"Idiots took over after Saker died." He replied, searching the youngest man for items.

"Well, isn't this nice." Zetaphyr smirked as she removed a little pouch of gold from her man's pocket. "I mean I _do_ feel guilty for taking this because I know this was probably stolen from someone else, but we're going to need it." She sighed.

"I wouldn't feel _too_ guilty. The people they stole it from are most likely dead." The prince said while searching another man.

The two finished up their searching, having found gold and another pistol, and continued along the path, eventually reaching the cobblestone bridge of Brightwall. However, the sight of strange men by the gateway was enough to alarm the prince and princess.

"Oh, bloody fantastic. They've beaten us here," Walter muttered.

"Just keep calm and continue walking. There's only two. If they give us any trouble, we can take them," was Zetaphyr's response.

Zetaphyr continued forward as if she had done no wrong. And in all honesty, she hadn't. She saw no reason to be afraid of these men, whoever they are.

Walter attempted to follow suit and look as confident as his older sister, with fingers crossed.

The siblings approached the gate of Brightwall. The two men standing there glanced them over, but didn't say a word. Walter felt relieved as he and Zetaphyr continued until they reached the home near Brightwall Academy.

"Here goes nothing," the prince mumbled before knocking on the door. No one answered, so he knocked again.

"Oh, just a minute," a feminine voice called from the other side of the door.

After a moment or two, a petite woman wearing a simple, yet elegant green dress answered the door. She had long, wavy blonde locks and soft, sparkling chocolate eyes that were wide with realization, then joy. Her tiny mouth was curved into a smile, and she glowed of cheer.

"Oh! Zetaphyr! Walter! You're both okay!" She gasped, pulling them both into a hug.

"Yes, we're okay, Helen." Zetaphyr smiled.

"Good! Now come on in." Helen said after releasing the siblings. "I was afraid that you didn't make it out of there, but I should have known better. You're children of a Hero." She beamed.

"Heh," the prince snorted. Zetaphyr could only bite her lip before stepping forward.

"We hope we aren't disturbing you, but we actually stop by to speak with Ben. There's something we needed to talk to him about. Of course, it concerns you as well. Perhaps even Oliver," explained the princess.

"Hm, I'm afraid neither happens to be in at the moment, but they should be back shortly," the woman announced. "They went to return a few books to the Academy that Samuel allowed them to borrow. We can all sit down and talk during dinner once everyone is here and settled."

"I'm afraid parts of the conversation wouldn't go so well during dinner," the girl sighed.

"After dinner, then." Helen said. "Now, make yourselves comfortable, dears. You've been through a horrible ordeal. Don't worry about helping me prepare dinner. Ben and Oliver can help with that once they return. I want you two to sit and relax."

Zetaphyr and Walter did not argue with Helen and took seats at the table. They could only sit down, wait for Ben to return, and prepare for the serious discussion that would follow dinner.

* * *

**Hello, readers! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I'm sorry if it seemed to drag. Things will be picking up soon. I promise.**

**A few other things in regards to this story:**

**-I will try to have a new chapter up every week or so. It depends on how much time I have on my hands.**

**-Not all of the Hero of Brightwall's allies will be present in this story. You'll hear mentions of several (e.g. Saker), but the only two that will actually be physically present in this story will be Ben Finn and Reaver (although he really wasn't an ally). Both will remain as they were in Fable. Expect Ben to keep his chatty sense of humor. Expect Reaver to remain amoral, narcissist, sexual, and overall out for himself. **

**-I wasn't quite sure about the genre for this story. There's going to be a great deal of drama, adventure, and romance. However, I opted to classify this tale as adventure/romance. I also decided to put the characters as "unknown 1" and Reaver, since Zetaphyr's the overall main character and Reaver is close behind her (I know what you peeps are thinking, too).**

**-It's rated T for language (mostly) and sexual themes.**

**-If anyone is by chance confused about the naming of the prince and princess, it's explained later.**

**And with that said, I will admit that this is my first Fable story to ever be written, and I ask for constructive criticism** **and feedback along the way.**

**~Madame Nightshade**


End file.
